THE RAIN IN SPAIN
A country for all seasons..
Our first of two recent trips to Spain was on the motorbike from home in the Dordogne to San Sebastián and then onto Logrono. We would never have gone to Logrono if it wasn’t for Charlie Brown who writes a regular blog on Substack. Unmissable if you like food wine Spain and Portugal. Whilst Logrono is sort of the capital of the Rioja wine region it is squeezed out of the tourist trail by Pamplona and San Sebastián. Big mistake. Like all Spanish cities/large towns the suburbs are made up of unimpressive apartment blocks built in the 70s and 80s but they are tidy and functional and it seems Spaniards much prefer ‘piso’ living over hacienda style - or maybe they do both in a country where land is plentiful and property reasonably priced (generally).
It’s a long way on a motorbike from the Dordogne - 500kms. That’s pretty much the most I can do in a day and I’m sure Kate would agree from the back seat. With a 6pm arrival in Llogrono you have to appreciate that lunch is only just finishing up so its very much a ‘shoulder’ hour but we were hungry and Calle del Laurel is where you head to for tapas and wine any night of the week. You can almost touch the sides (of the street) if you stand in the middle and as the evening wears on many people are indeed bouncing off the sides - but in a good way. Charlie had suggested her particular route of eating and drinking so we tried to stick to that as much as we could. At barely more than €2 a glass of red, sometimes €3 for the really good stuff, this place is seriously good value and each stop seemed to have a speciality that we had to try from Spanish style hot dogs to patatas bravas to mini hamburgers. Stag nights and hen nights began to fill up the street and everyone of all ages just seemed to be having a grand time - us included although we knew we weren’t going to be the last to leave the street that night. We ate and drank and talked as much as we could and ended up with a bill for the evening of €70. Amazing value I would say but then some prefer to sit down in one place to eat and drink. I’m happy to alternate.
We headed to Pamplona the next day - a short picturesque ride via a few towns and villages and one winery. Pamplona is well known for the bulls running riot during the festival of San Fermin (never done it but think I should). Arriving around 3pm meant that we were in good time for lunch so we asked the hotel for a good local reservation. They came up trumps (details below) and we also reserved dinner in the first place we stopped at as it looked so good. Lunch ran from 3.30 to around 6pm with the wonderfully grilled steak arriving around 5pm. Based on the one night tapas one night sitting routine this worked very well and included a 7-8pm siesta. Highly recommended.
I can’t imagine a better 3 stop trip than San Seb, Llogrono and Pamplona. All three are very different but in many ways the same, reflecting Basque and Navarra traditions, food, wine and culture. I would still rank Ribera del Duero (further west) first, then Rioja, then Navarra wines but am open to being challenged and indeed to a more intense period of on the ground research possibly taking in the Picos de Europa which I first visited in 1977. Back then you could wander into the caves at Santillana del Mar and probably scrawl your name on the prehistoric wall art. They are firmly closed to the public now and like Lascaux here in France they have created a perfect reproduction next door.
We spotted many ‘camino’ walkers with 500 kms to go before they reached their pilgrimage grail of Santiago de Compostella. This early in the walk they all looked remarkably cheerful but as anyone who has been to Santiago will know, they don’t look so happy at the end! I have only done Bilbao to San Sebastián which is a) the wrong way and b) not even on the camino.
And so to the second trip - a walking weekend in the hills above Malaga in Andalusia with a group of friends still talking to each other after various walks over the past 27 years. The first was 35 miles a day across Scotland from Oban to St Andrews. Most of us couldn’t do 35 miles a day on a bicycle now let alone walk it and so it was that we headed south for (hopefully) better weather and 12 miles a day.
A bit like Pamplona and Llogrono, Malaga also attracts its fair share of hen and stag parties although probably less Spanish groups and more from northern Europe. The airport is like London Stansted on steroids and is now the 4th largest in Spain with plans to double in size and to launch long haul flights mainly to the Americas. Miami and all points south I would imagine.
Spain’s very relaxed immigration policy means that a city the size of Malaga arrives every year (700,000) - mainly from Latin America and increasingly over the Med from Morocco. It works well for Spain as immigrants are predominantly Spanish speaking so integrate well into the economy. Plus they like football and can arrive visa free for 3 months. Just recently the government declared another amnesty whereby those who had overstayed their 3 months and were working in the ‘dark’ economy could visit their local government office and be officially recognised and authorised to stay. This is a markedly different policy to the rest of Europe and whilst having its critics in Spain seems to be working for now - as long as the economy can absorb the numbers.
Click on image below for the relevant FT article.
Whilst not as easy on the eye as Granada, Cordoba or Seville, Malaga still has its charms - and cruise ships and hen nights. Some excellent museums of which the Picasso version is the most famous plus a lovely old quarter and port area. Here I must confess that my love affair with Claude and AI began to blossom. Best wine bars Claude? Best sherry bars? Peruvian food by any chance? It all started here and I am now a €20 a month subscriber wondering where this journey will take me in the hope that Claude doesn’t get too involved in these pages. More of that later.
From Malaga we headed up into the hills to begin our walk carrying with us a mixed forecast for the next few days. Whatever else you say about Spain two things are clear. The first answer to most things is si (unlike France) and it is Very Noisy. Spain is not known for its silent acoustics as everywhere is tiled. Any surface left untouched for a week is immediately tiled. If anyone has seen a Spanish TV chat show (preferably early evening) you will note that the whole panel are talking at the same time and in most cases so is the audience. And the studio is tiled. It’s deafening; so in any bar or restaurant you either have to join in and shout or go home. All of which ensures that you have to be in a jolly mood and drink more Rioja. The food can be a bit ‘samey’ so we tended to order one of everything in most places and just shared. It’s not all El Bulli and reconstructed mousses.
We seemed to walk uphill for 2 days with not much downhill. And it generally poured with rain all day for 2 days. But we had fun discussing all the usual stuff you get through on a 7 hour walk and a 5 hour evening, ok maybe 3 or 4 hours these days. Everyone we met was friendly; everywhere was open and the accommodation was suspiciously cheap ending up with a truckers motorway stop on our last night in the hills that we couldn’t access on foot so the staff and family at our final (very noisy) bar stop offered to drive us there for a small contribution to the fuel. You don’t find that happening in every country you visit. And so we gave up on on the 3rd day and headed back down to Malaga slightly earlier than planned.
During the 2 days walking my friend Eric had introduced me to Claude. Why don’t we ask Claude what he thinks of your blog Eric said. It will take 2 minutes. Surely not I thought. How’s Claude going to go through all the blogs I’ve written in 7 years? Well of course he did and he/she/it/they came back with a full critique of style, delivery and grammar. Best of all Claude thought it sounded like a well travelled publican telling stories over a bar to an intimate group of friends. So if I stop writing and open a pub you will know why dear reader. It’s because of AI - so who’s to say AI doesn’t create employment. And just for the sake of clarity this article was not written with Claude’s help - although I might secretly just send him a copy and see what he thinks. If he doesn’t immediately become a paid subscriber I will know he’s a deep fake.
BOLDER INTELLIGENCE
Travel knowledge for humans, curated and occasionally fallible. Unlike the artificial kind I will always admit when I get it wrong
Try VOLOTEA - a low cost Spanish airline founded by Carlos Munoz who started Vueling. An excellent alternative to Ryanair on the continent but perhaps not if you live in the UK. And you get to take a 10k suitcase on board for no extra charge. I flew Bordeaux to Malaga.
Given that my old favourites Hospes are now grossly overpriced why not try these guys. yes a bit cookie cutter Spanish hotel style but clean, great facilities and reasonably priced. I stayed in the Malaga version and loved it if a bit low in character.
MALAGA SUGGESTIONS
ANTIGUA CASA DE GUARDIA (old town) - great old fashioned sherry from the barrel bar with all drinks marked in chalk on the bar in front of you.
ANYWAY Wine Bar (port area) - fantastic selection of wines and a limited but excellent menu. Careful - the bill can mount up so i went round the corner to Alma Lunafor an excellent Peruvian dish then to VINUMPLAY which is a wine bar and shop (with food). You pay per glass from the brilliant wine machine.
EL RINCON DE LOLA- if you are staying near the station and can’t get to the Old Quarter or port then stroll down to Lolas near the beach. Good solid menu and friendly staff.
LLOGRONO
All I am going to do here is suggest Calle del Laurel and point you in the direction of Charlie Brown at The Sauce. If you follow her tapas route suggestion then you can’t go far wrong.
PAMPLONA
We stayed at ALDA CENTRO HOTEL - small rooms but perfectly formed and a fantastic location. Around €80 but not in high season! If driving there is parking nearby (a problem in Pamplona)
Lunch - ASADOR ERRETEGIA. Just brilliant - and the meat is amazing.
Dinner - BEARAN - restaurant, bar and rooms! Just stay here..bang in the middle of the Pamplona tapas high street. Slightly wider then Llogrono and slightly posher I would say.
Another great article! Logrono is certainly memorable and well worth visiting - fabulous food and wines, great atmosphere, very happy afternoon - and (necessary) taxi back to Hotel ....